Our Nebraska Trip!

Well, the time had finally come! Early Thursday morning, November 15, Chris drove Addison, Tessa, and I to the San Jose airport. We left at 3:00am and arrived there around 5:30am. Our flight took off at 7:40am. I was a little anxious to travel all by myself with my two little one, especially Tessa because she would be on my lap the whole way.

Well, after a 2 hr flight, we had a 2 1/2 hr layover in Denver. How do I keep a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old busy for two hours? Thanks to the advice of my friend Dorina, I stocked up on all kid necessities at the Dollar Store and the $1 isle at Target. Plus we walked all over the airports and rode the walking sidewalks several times. The next flight was another 2 hrs and we arrived in NE at 5pm. The girls always seemed to fall asleep just as we began to land. So i had some sleepy heads on my hands. As we got into the Omaha airport I got a text message from Chris asking me to call him ASAP! I guess Kamryn had tripped at school that day and had banged her head on a desk pretty badly. By the time she got on the phone, I was crying, she was crying, and now Tessa was crying and Addi was crying cuz she couldn't get her shoe on. I was a mess, the girls were a mess....it had been quite a day!

Relief came when Leah showed up and wisked us off to her farm outside Lincoln. I haven't seen my cousin in about 5 years. It was great to see her again and get to know her kids. Leah and her husband Anthony have 4 kids, Emily, Abigail, Anna and Isaac. We spent a lot of time outside on thier farm: swinging, catching a chicken (thanks to Emily!), petting and watering the horses, and just exploring. Addison even got to help the girls build a fort in the woods. Now that is not something she does everyday.

On Friday, we drove into Lincoln and went to the Children's museum. The kids had such a blast exploring and pretending away (Leah and I had fun being kids again too). We headed to my cousin's bakery (Leah's brothers), La Quartier Baking Company for lunch. I was amazed and how beautiful his setup was, and the bread was amazing! Seth is pictured here, I never did get a picture of John, he is the founder of the bakery and Seth does the books and helps in the store. They make a great team!

Saturday we slept in and played around the house and farm. In the afternoon, we headed to my uncle and aunts farm out in Henderson. It was about an hour drive and the babies were able to sleep. This is the farm where I visited as a kid and where Leah grew up. There are lots of memories here and I'm so glad I could bring my kids to see it. We went for a long walk and Addison helped Emily and Abigail pick up dried corn from the fields for the sheep and horses. It was a beautiful evening as the sun set.

Sunday was the wedding reception for my cousin Seth and his new bride, Sarah. She got to put her wedding dress back on to stunn us all. She looked beautiful!

We drove back to Leah's home Sunday night. I made the mistake of giving Tessa a tiny drink of some cold coffee and she was wired til 11pm. I will not be doing that again! On Monday, we drove into Lincoln to look at all the beautiful old houses and we took the kids to the park. They had a great time playing and swinging. We headed back to the bakery one more time for a fabulous lunch and then it was off to the airport.

Back in the airport the girls were excited to see Daddy and Kamryn. Addison had a hard time leaving Nebraska. She kept saying she wanted to live there forever and ever and ever....Maybe the midwest is in our future?
Kamryn asked if we would take her next time we got to Nebraska. So the can-collecting continues....